A major summer advertising campaign is being thrashed out to encourage Londoners to sample the delights of Southend.

Up to £150,000 will be spent on the campaign which will paint Southend as "London's favourite playground".

LTS Rail, Peter Pan's Adventure Island and Southend Council have joined forces to create the campaign set for the summer school holidays.

A 30 second commercial is in the pipeline for Carlton TV which will be backed up by 3,000 posters on the London Underground network.

Money saving vouchers will be available at all LTS Rail stations and they will also be posted out to 400,000 existing train travellers.

It is also hoped that the television commercial will be played on monitors at Fenchurch Street station during the school holidays.

A Southend Seafront Illuminations and Business Association spokesman said: "Obviously, the three partners will feature most strongly in the advertising.

"However, the spin-off will bring massive extra business to all attractions on the seafront."

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